The Adams Family

2011-12-19T22:09:00.000-05:00

MerryChristmas!

Well, 2011 has been quite a year forthe Adams family! We have been blessedwith some incredible moments these past twelve months. We (Audrey and I) celebrated our 4^thanniversary of marriage, and constantly marvel at what God has done in ourlives in such a short time.

Lincoln:

On April 25th we welcomed the fourthmember of our family into the world. Lincoln Aaron was 7lb 12oz and 19.8 inches long. He is a very smiley, happy boy! He is also a big boy who is in the 90^thpercentile for height and 75^th for weight. As of December twelfth he started crawlingand has taken off!

Anna:

Anna turned one on January 6^th. She is very sweet and incredibly smart! She has been able to count to fifteen andspeak in short sentences for several months and knows several songs that shesings all the time. Her verbal skillsare incredibly advanced (must be good genes)!

Audrey:

Audrey stays very busy with the twochildren and is always running around. Shehas been involved in a women’s Bible study on Thursday mornings and became theco-coordinator for our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) program for theyear. She is also very involved inchildren’s’ ministry and singing in the church choir.

Reed:

I am still working for BeechwoldChristian Church and have had a very blessed year here. The Children’s Ministry Trunk-or-Treatprogram in October was especially incredible this year. I have also continued seeking my master’sdegree and am still on pace to graduate in May 2012. Just two more classes to go!

Family:

In March we went to Indiana for afamily reunion on my mother’s side. InAugust my father’s side of the family had a reunion. Both were a great chance for family to gettogether! Too bad we cannot spend timeslike that more often.

In July we had our annual Smith/Harvey vacationon the Oregon coast. It was thetwenty-fifth anniversary of the event!

Early in September, we drove to Charlotte tovisit Audrey’s sister, her husband and their daughter. It was a nice visit, and nice to have themliving a little closer than before.

In late September we had a nice staycation wherewe went to the zoo, COSI (a children’s science center) and took some nicefamily pictures. We splurged on zoopasses this year, so there have been several trips there the last severalmonths.

We traveled to the Harvey house forThanksgiving and spent a nice week visiting and showing off the kids. The Rockey family drove up from Charlotte inearly December to spend a weekend and relax.

Christmas this year will be spent atmy parents’ house with my sister and her family. It will be the first time we will get toattend my parents’ church in Tennessee.

This is a small sample of ouryear. I hope your year was as blessedand that 2012 is even better!

Love,

Reed and the rest of the Adams family

Photo Card

2011-06-11T21:07:00.001-04:00

Storytime Blue Baby Announcements

Announcements for every life event: graduation, wedding & baby.

View the entire collection of cards.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-08-04T13:26:00.004-04:00

This summer has just flown by! Some of the major highlights from July were:

Successful VBS
Trip to Lafayette for Anna to meet Great Grandma and Grandpa Miller (and Great Uncle Randy, Great Cousins Amos and Dana and second cousin Reese)
North American Christian Convention in Indiana
Visit from Great Grandma and Grandpa Sanders
Reed at 5th and 6th grade camp
Harvey-Smith Winema Family Vacation
Reed at 3rd and 4th grade camp
MOPS steering retreat at Buckeye Lake

Although it was so much fun to be on the road, we are glad to be back home settling into a routine. (At least till next week when we go to Tennessee to visit Reed's parents.)

In just a few short weeks things will begin to get very busy again. Fall is fast approaching. I am looking forward to all of our new adventures, though.

Reed is going back to school to complete a MA in Organizational Leadership. I think I am more excited about it, than him.

I have also joined our MOPS steering team this year and am in charge of the Moppets (kids) programming that takes place during our meetings. That will keep me busy. It also includes organizing play dates, which is always fun.

Reed is starting a new evening kids program this fall for elementary kids that will run for a couple of months. It will mainly be for those kids that want to grow deeper in their knowledge and faith. Darin is helping to steer it, which will be big help, but will still keep us busy.

I am teaching a new Sunday school class for adults this fall, which will be interesting, considering that Anna is not a huge fan of the nursery. I am excited about teaching it though. It has been a long time since I have done anything outside of children's ministry.

And of course, we'll have all of our fun trips including a trip to Arizona in October, Thanksgiving trip in Tennessee and Christmas vacation in Oregon.

It is going to be a busy fall, but a good one.

Fun Day!

2010-06-22T09:25:00.009-04:00

Yesterday was a fun day. We didn't really do anything extra special, but we had fun hanging out together.

We enjoyed reading books!

Being Silly!

Hanging out at the park!

Playing with Daddy!

New Pool

2010-06-22T08:45:00.005-04:00

We got Anna a little swimming pool the other day. She had lots of fun playing in it on Father’s Day!

At first the water was a little too cold, so Daddy had to get some hot water from the kitchen to make it more like her bath water.

The pool has a big hippo on it, so we let her play with her toy hippo (Quacker) in the water.

We didn’t know what to do at first, but then really enjoyed it! Especially playing with the side of the pool. It was a slippery texture, which was fun!

Anna Loves getting her picture taken!

2010-06-11T14:18:00.004-04:00

Anna was being extra cute this morning, so I thought I would post a few shots. Sorry I haven't posted many new photos lately. Hopefully I can get back to posting more.

Great-Grandparents!!

2010-06-04T10:39:00.004-04:00

We had a really fun time this past weekend! Anna’s Great-grandpa and Great-grandma Adams (Grandpa Adams’ mother and father) came and visited Anna for the first time! Also, Grandpa Adams’ sister, Great Aunt Sandy came, too!! Anna loved meeting them, and we got to spend Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday with them!

I had Monday of because of Memorial Day, so Great-grandpa and Great-grandma Miller (GrandMA Adams’ parents) came to visit! They got in about 10:30 in the morning, and stayed until the next morning. Anna loved seeing them, and had such a good time.

After meeting so many important members of her family, Anna still decided to stick around:). She has now been blessed to meet all six of her Great-grandparents, and she loves them all so much!! This weekend her Grandpa and Grandma Adams are coming to visit...so she is super-excited about that!!

Here are two more pictures...one of Anna after Daddy picked out her clothes by himself for the first time ever (Mommy has made the closet super-scarily-organized so he has been a little hesitant to before. Took about 20 minutes to figure out the dewey-decimal system she has in place), and the other is her Sunday afternoon nap.

Niagara Falls Anniversary!

2010-05-20T21:36:00.009-04:00

Well, our anniversary was on Wednesday (our #3) and to surprise me, Audrey planned a trip for us. I knew we were going somewhere, but I didn’t know where. Audrey punched in the address for the GPS so I knew my next step, and we headed out that day for our location. I didn’t know that it was Niagara Falls until we got pretty close. I had never told Audrey, but I had always wanted to come see the Falls. Today we did some really neat things, and of course documented them with pictures.

We began by waking up at the crack of ten...well, the girls were up a little earlier, but not me!! We grabbed some breakfast and then got ready for the day.

We drove to the Falls, and this is what we saw! Absolutely breathtaking! And Niagara Falls behind her is incredible as well!

Anna was riveted, too! It was like she couldn’t move because of the view...or something else, perhaps.

In this picture you can see all the falls. The American is the near one behind Audrey. Then at the fall end of that one you can see a small gap and a small fall after it (looks like the same falls with a small space between). That one is called the Bridal Veil. In the way back is the Horseshoe which is the big semicircle that goes from the U.S. side over to Canada. It is so amazing to see so much water pouring over the edge!

We took a boat ride called the Maid of the Mist that went by the falls. We got some really stylish ponchos because of the mist from the falls. I did not think it would be that wet, but at the base of the Horseshoe it felt like a cold, salty rain!

The Horseshoe had so much mist at the bottom it was hard to see much around it.

Anna, of course, was enthralled. She woke up right as the boat ride ended. (We had her covered snug deep in her stroller during the misty times).

After the boat ride we went back to the top, and a nice lady took our picture.

Then we walked across a bridge over the American Falls to the other side of them. There is a wooden framework of bridges that you can walk on near the Bridal Veil Fall, so we did that. You get some ponchos for that, too (yellow this time) and cool sandals as well (think the sandal of the bowling shoe family). You have to take an elevator down to it, and then you can climb around. The falls were right beside it, and some places it crashed into the railing a little at times. They have to build the framework new every year because the ice and cold destroy it every winter. In the pic below Aud is on the bottom platform in the yellow poncho.

Anna was awake for this (which was good because we couldn’t take the stroller here). She enjoyed it a lot, even when she got a little spray in her face!

We couldn’t go all the way up there because the highest framework was so close to the crashing water we would have gotten soaked...not a good idea with a baby! So we went back to the hotel and Anna had her first pool experience! She liked it, but it was a little chilly so we only stayed in a bit. Overall, a really great day!

May Photos

2010-05-11T18:40:00.007-04:00

Here are a few photos of my cutie pie!

4 Month Food!

2010-05-08T19:29:00.002-04:00

Thursday was Anna's 4 month birthday, and to celebrate we gave her some cereal! We had given her a little taste of a couple things for a week or so,but this was her first actual sold food. Sorry that my arm is kind of in the way...I was expecting Audrey to feed her so I set the camera up for that angle and forgot to move it. You can still see enough, though. Enjoy!!

Almost 4 months

2010-05-03T08:36:00.003-04:00

Man, time flies by so fast! Anna will be 4 months old on Thursday! We are loving her more and more each day! We hope to start giving her a little cereal this week. Be looking for a video of her first few bites. I am sure it will be a great one! She has been eye-ing food for a while now and is really wanting some. We have given her a few tastes of various things, but not too much. This week should be fun.

Looking more like a BIG kid everyday!

2010-04-29T09:21:00.003-04:00

Naked Baby!

2010-04-25T22:11:00.007-04:00

Scioto Trail State Park

2010-04-23T16:49:00.006-04:00

Since it is going to be our only rain free day of the weekend, we decided to head down south and go hiking today. We went to Scioto Trail State Park which is about an hour south of Columbus. It was a very beautiful hike although I was worried about the bugs the whole time. I think that since I got stung so bad while I was on a hike while pregnant, I am just extra scared now. Anna enjoyed the hike but was wiped out at the end. Of course we ended the trip with a drive to Sonic! Always a good way to end a hike with a yummy java chiller!

Photo shoot of the Day!

2010-04-22T17:29:00.008-04:00

Anna is 15 weeks old today!

2010-04-21T11:12:00.006-04:00

Anna woke up extremely happy today. I went to get her out of bed and she was talking and had the biggest grin on her face. I love my little girl so much! We had fun this morning taking some photos with her bunny blanket.

April Already

2010-04-05T10:20:00.005-04:00

I can not believe that it is April already! Anna will be three months old tomorrow. Time keeps flying by and she keeps getting older. She has started cooing a whole lot more and has gotten so strong. We love her little personality!

Last week Anna was a little sick with a cold, but is now back to her cute little self. I am especially grateful for this because we have had two great nights of sleep! Here are some photos from Easter and the last few days! Really these pictures do not do justice to how cute she really is!

Since We’ve Been Home

2010-03-30T23:03:00.007-04:00

Since we have been home, Anna has developed a pretty bad cold. I was sick while I was in Oregon and I ended up giving it to Anna. She has been a real trooper even though it is very evident that she doesn’t feel very good. Here are some photos from the last few days.

Trip to Oregon

2010-03-30T15:05:00.013-04:00

We had a great trip to Oregon to see family and friends! It was so much fun to introduce Anna to everyone and let people hold her.

Grandma got to hold her!

Grandpa got to hold her!

Aunt Emily got to hold her!

Aunt Kara got to hold her!

Uncle Ben got to hold her!

Uncle Brett got to hold her!

Aunt Katie got to hold her!

Aunt Bonnie got to hold her!

Cousin Claire got to hold her!

Great grandma got to hold her!

Great Aunt Linda got to hold her!

Great Grandma and Grandpa got to hold her!

Good friend Krista got to hold her!

Good friends Dan and Sharon got to hold her!

Great Cousin Matt got to hold her!

Great Cousin Lydia got to hold her!

Great Cousins Nora and Esther got to hold her!

Great Aunt Sheryl got to hold her!

Good friend Emily got to hold her!

Good friend Trisha got to hold her!

Reed and I even got to hold her!

Of course there were many people that got to enjoy little Anna that we didn’t get photos of. Thanks everyone for making it such a great trip!

from Uncle Brett

2010-03-15T09:34:00.004-04:00

On Sunday, Anna wore an outfit from Uncle Brett. She loves her Uncle and can't wait to meet him next week!

My Little Sweetheart!

2010-03-11T13:09:00.004-05:00

Anna hasn't been feeling very good since she got her shots at the doctor's office on Tuesday. She has slept a lot and just hasn't been herself. She did manage to give me some good shots for the camera though. She is such a sweet heart!

Precious Girl

2010-03-08T13:34:00.011-05:00

We love taking pictures of our baby girl!

VIDEO!

2010-03-01T20:31:00.002-05:00

Ok, I wanted to put up a couple clips of Anna for you all to see! She is always super cute and sweet, but on Sunday she was just adorable and loving life even more than usual! Check out these short clips:

This one is for 4 special people.

Happy Anna!

2010-02-28T22:35:00.007-05:00

The many faces of Anna

2010-02-23T10:16:00.006-05:00

Fun Day

2010-02-17T14:40:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was a fun day! It was my birthday, so we did a little celebrating! The day started off great. In fact, I was able to get a shower in before Anna woke up! That never happens! Reed was working from home yesterday, because of the weather. Even though he was working, it was nice to have him home. Anna was pretty happy most of the day.

Of course, she was sleeping most of the day.

We went to Walmart and bought a Wii Fit Plus with some birthday money I received. I am so excited to finally have one! I have been looking at them for quite a while now. After that we went to Red Lobster for dinner. We LOVE it there! They even play our favorite music there. Last time we were there they played "Sea Breeze", which I walked down the isle to at our wedding. And this time, they played "Nothin' Fancy", which is what we did our first dance to at our wedding and is our favorite song.

Anna slept the whole time we were there.

After dinner, we went to the mall and walked around. I stopped and said hello to one of my old co-workers from Macys. She was excited to see Anna, of course. We also went and bought yummy cookies at Subway for our dessert!

On our way home we stopped by Old Navy. I bought a dress shirt and skirt for me and a pair of shoes for Anna for all under $3.50. I love it when I find great deals!

When we came home, I put the little angel to bed and Reed and I played the new wii fit. We really enjoyed it! In all, we didn't do a ton, but it was a great day! I heard from many of my family and friends, too, which made me feel very loved!

This morning, my Bible study was cancelled because of the snow, so Anna and I have just been hanging out. I took a few pictures of her in her cute little kitty outfit. I love all of her clothes! She is getting bigger, which means, new outfits to take pictures in!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T20:43:00.006-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Anna wore an outfit from her cousin Claire today. Everyone at church loved her red dress! When we came home to take pictures Anna was exhausted an slept the whole time.

She started to get a little cranky! We were interrupting her nap.

Mommy gave her a good talk.

And since that didn't work, she fed her and then they took a nap.

More Cute Photos

2010-02-13T11:55:00.003-05:00

Blowing Bubbles

2010-02-11T10:57:00.004-05:00

Anna has discovered how to blow bubbles. She can entertain herself for quite a while.

Also, a few more cute pictures with daddy.

Anna Loves Bath Time!

2010-02-10T15:16:00.004-05:00

Watching the Snow Fall

2010-02-09T13:54:00.003-05:00

Snowed in!

2010-02-08T21:33:00.003-05:00

Friday we had a pretty bad snow storm that brought in over 9.5 inches of snow. We also lost our power Friday night until about 11 am on Saturday, which made for a really chilly night! We had Anna in our bed to try to keep her warm, which meant that none of us really got much sleep. Luckily we didn't have any weekend plans, so we were able to stay warm and cozy once the power came back on. We are predicted to have another storm come in tonight and stay through Wednesday bringing around another 8 inches. I am not looking forward to it!

This is a picture of Anna all cozy in an outfit from her cousin Claire.

Anna has been pretty colicky lately, especially in the evenings. It's extra rough on daddy, since it is during most of the time when he is at home. He does a great job of calming her down though.

On Friday, I also started to feel sick, like I had the flu. It continued to get worse on Saturday till I could hardly move. I felt like I had been hit by a train and was running a temp. with the worst headache ever! Apparently I had developed a breast infection that was causing my body to go crazy. Reed did a great job of taking care of me and Anna, while I was sick. My fever broke the next morning and I gradually started to feel better. Anna and I missed church on Sunday because I was still recovering. Monday I woke up feeling pretty good, grateful that I was able to avoid going on antibiotics.

Because I was feeling better and because the next few days will be rough outside, Anna and I did some running around outside today. Anna got all dressed up in some of her cute Old Navy Clothes that I got for under $2 each.

Her photo shoot left her too tired to keep her eyes open. She ended up sleeping for five hours straight. I guess being so cute is exhausting!

Mama's Precious Girl

2010-02-04T18:38:00.003-05:00

4 Weeks Old!

2010-02-03T15:21:00.004-05:00

Anna is four weeks old today! We love her more and more each day!

She is finally starting to look up at the animals on her bouncer. She likes to stare at them for long periods of time.

Anna also likes looking outside at the snow and watching the cars go by. She is so strong and doing an excellent job of holding her head up already!

Anna also loves nap time!

And bed time!

Anna is always content with a full belly!

Sunday

2010-01-31T21:39:00.002-05:00

Anna wore one of her outfits from cousin Claire to church today. And her boots were from Grandma Harvey. She looked very cute, as always!

Afterwards we had a lazy afternoon and took naps on the couch! I love cuddling with my little girl!

Getting Older Everyday!

2010-01-30T22:24:00.006-05:00

This last week, I have felt like Anna is growing in leaps and bounds. I love her little personality she is developing. She is sleeping much better at night now, as well, which gives her more awake time in the day time. I also think her hair is turning more and more red. We'll see if she develops a "red head" personality.

Everyday we have tried to have some tummy time.

She loves spending time with her daddy! I love watching them together!

Anna is 3 weeks old today!

2010-01-27T15:12:00.002-05:00

It's Cold Outside!

2010-01-25T18:57:00.003-05:00

Today was a chilly day! We got all bundled up and took lunch to Reed at work today.

Grandma Adams Is Here!

2010-01-22T21:39:00.006-05:00

Grandma Adams came today! Anna loves to have her grandmas around! Mommy and daddy are excited to have her here too! We went to Red Robin tonight for dinner and then came home and grandma gave Anna a bath.

Last night Anna slept better than she has since last Saturday. We were very grateful for a little more sleep and less screaming!

She did scream a little in the morning though when we tried to take her picture. She wasn't too happy. This outfit was cousin Claire's outfit.

Daddy gave her a pep talk, and she stopped screaming, but refused to stay awake for the photos.

Last few days

2010-01-21T18:18:00.006-05:00

Every night daddy has been reading from the Bible to Anna. Anna loves spending time with her dad. We wish he was home all day long!

We have been giving Anna a bath in the evenings. She hasn't really liked them so far. She is usually pretty content when it is over.

Anna wore this outfit to go visit daddy at work while I had Bible study.

This is how she is in the morning after a long night of screaming and staying up. It's a good thing she is so cute!

Cute Photos of the day

2010-01-18T19:14:00.002-05:00

Time flies by so fast!

2010-01-18T11:39:00.007-05:00

I can’t believe Anna is already 12 days old! Time has flown by so fast. Anna looks older everyday! We have loved watching her grow and develop her little personality. Our little angel has been such an easy baby, so far. We really feel pretty lucky. She has definitely had her moments, but for the most part, she is very patient and tender hearted! Nights have been relatively easy, as well, minus the whole getting up for feedings thing. Last night was the first night since we were in the hospital that she really didn’t sleep the best. And I am pretty sure last night was because I ate chocolate pretty late. I forgot that I have to watch what I eat, for her! I guess it will help me take off the extra weight though.

Today my mom leaves to go back home to Oregon. She will greatly be missed! She was very helpful and so giving while she was here! And the same with my dad and sister! We really do feel so blessed to have such a wonderful and supportive family, on both sides! Reed’s mom moves in this Friday! We are excited to have her here, as well! Cindy and Phil were already here for a few days, but didn’t get to spend as much time with Anna. This time, Cindy will! We wish Phil could come too, but understand the whole job thing.

Speaking of which, Reed went back to work last week. He only went in for a few hours each day though. It has been SO nice to have him home! Tomorrow is when he goes back for full days! It will be very hard to have him gone! Tomorrow is also my first day on my own with Anna. I am not too worried, but a little anxious to be on my own. Reed is leaving early to give plasma and then has a late meeting which will put him home a lot later than usual. It will be my first test of if I will be able to pull off this whole mom thing. I plan to sleep most of the time Anna is sleeping- something I really haven’t mastered yet.

Here are some of the pictures that we have taken that I really love. Of course a lot of them have already been posted on facebook, or have been circulating around. But they are still really cute! Hopefully I’ll get better and this blog thing, now that we have Anna. I know that many family and friends are wanting to watch as our little girl grows up.

ANNA!!

2010-01-06T21:27:00.002-05:00

Well, she's here! Tuesday, Jan 5 we went to the doctor and found out that Audrey wasn't very dilated. We decided to go ahead with a two-step dilation process starting that night. At 2:30am Audrey's water broke, and the rest of the night people were in and out of the room. She started pushing around 12:00 noon and Anna was born at 1:28pm on January 6. She weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 20 inches long. She has been a very good girl, and has only really cried when people messed with her (which, of course is often...they have to make sure she's clean and perfect and all that stuff. Well, we're exhausted, so this won't be a long post. I do just have to say that seeing a baby born is one of the most wonderful, beautiful, tiring things I have ever seen!

Oh yeah, what you all really want...a pic!!

CHRISTMAS!!

2009-12-25T12:27:00.012-05:00

Well, today is Christmas! Audrey and I slept in until 10:00AM in honor of our last non-child Christmas. After a delicious breakfast of omelets and potato patties (like tator tots, but different shape) we sat down to open our presents!

Last night after the Christmas Eve service, we opened Anna's gifts from Uncle Brett and Aunt Kara (she couldn't wait until morning...you know kids;)). The pink sweater is from Kara, and the brown and blue outfit from Brett. Thanks, you two!!

Audrey began the unwrapping today by opening her Santa gift...she was very excited!

VERY excited! She had wanted this "beautiful" coat from Old Navy, and got it! That Santa, he always knows what to get people. She'll even be able to button it someday!

I then opened my Santa gift, and found some new basketball shorts - with Spurs logo! I had wanted exactly these shorts!

They make me look pretty tough, eh? I imagine I'll be able to slam dunk now.

Our next gifts were both from Ken and Chris, and were a travel baking pan and a Spurs blanket (it's super soft and warm).

The next two presents were gift cards! Audrey got Old Navy from her parents, and I got a great Lowe's card from Katie (that she did an EXCELLENT job of wrapping). Thanks, Katie!

Audrey then opened another Old Navy gift card from Brett! She's excited to go shopping after Anna's born! Thanks, Brett!

I then opened a shower cap from Ken and Chris which was going to be perfect at protecting my hair...but then I was even MORE excited to find cash inside the little box! YEAH!

Audrey got THREE gifts from Travis...and we're pretty much certain he picked them out and wrapped them himself. First was a lovely necklace and earrings that Audrey can't wait to wear!

After that was a soft pair of slippers...although at first Audrey thought they were gloves (I helped her figure it out).

The coolest of all, though, was a COLOR-CHANGING HAT!!

Ok, it was actually just two hats that were the same except for color, but they were very nice! Thanks, Travis!!

The last gift of the day was a neat basketball from Ben (a little over his set budget, I think). It is a really nice one, and I can't wait to use it! Thanks, Ben! Come on out and play some basketball with me! An extra benefit is that I could use it to look like a pregnant Audrey (and the "I'm ready to have this baby" face). Ok, just kidding - don't get offended, people! She's much cuter, I know!

Well, that was Christmas! We didn't get each other gifts this year, and my parents gave us a trip to visit the Smoky Mountains with them a couple months ago, so it was the Harvey Christmas! Yeah! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

3 weeks to go!

2009-12-16T10:02:00.009-05:00

The last few weeks have really seemed to fly by. It is hard to believe that Christmas is just next week! This year will be the only and probably last, for many years to come, Christmas where we wake up by ourselves on Christmas. It's a very bitter-sweet thing. I have begun to cherish the moments we have by ourselves, knowing that we don't have many of those days left. It also helps in knowing that we have a lot of family who will be joining us in the few weeks that follow for celebrating!
On Sunday, the ministers' wives threw me a baby shower. It was wonderful and I felt so loved and blessed! We received a ton of stuff for little Anna! Now to get it all organized and ready! I am spending much of the day washing her new little clothes. I love looking at her stuff. Sometimes I just go into her room and sit in the rocker for a while, or open up her wardrobe and look at all the little outfits and try to picture her in them.
We are now 37 weeks along and I am feeling more uncomfortable than ever, especially at the end of the day. But I am also counting it a blessing to have had such a healthy pregnancy. Although I have had my bad days and a few trips to the hospital, it really has flown by so fast and been wonderful!
Here are some pictures from Monday. I am now down to wearing quite a bit of Reed's clothes (which are also tight).

And to put it in perspective, here are a few of my pictures over the last nine months!

The day we found out- Almost 5 weeks.

About 10 weeks

About 14 weeks

About 18 weeks

About 23 weeks

About 27 weeks

About 31 weeks

About 34 weeks

About 36 weeks

As you can see, there has been quite a change in my appearance. Although I have really enjoyed being pregnant, I will be very happy to have my body back!

At about 36 weeks, we had some pregnancy photos done by Kama. Kama is a daughter of one of the ladies that volunteers in children's ministry at the church. We had a great day going out and taking lots of photos. We went to a near by park and also took some photos at our house. Kama did a great job. She has posted a few on her website, if you want to take a look. There are also more to come, as she gets them completed. We'll keep you posted. Her website is:
http://candidkama.blogspot.com/

Fun Times

2009-12-11T11:50:00.002-05:00

Hey all!
Well, we have had a fun last few days. Aud started feeling poorly again on Wednesday, and after it got much worse (even worse than a couple weeks ago when she was hurting) we went in to the hospital. After they ran some tests they found out she had a kidney stone (soooo...fun). We spent Wed. and Thurs. nights at the hospital, and got home this morning. It hasn't come out of her yet, but she's feeling MUCH better (we think it may have passed into her bladder). Because of everything that went down, we think she had a smaller one when she was hurting a few weeks ago (but they didn't catch it because it had already moved on or something).

Anyway, prayers are much appreciated as she recovers and tries to not get anymore kidney stones. The good news is that, for now, Anna is head down!! YEAH!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-01T07:30:00.005-05:00

This year we were able to spend Thanksgiving down in Cookeville, TN with Reed's family. It was so nice to have a break from everyday tasks and hang out with family. On Thanksgiving day, the Kleemans and some of the Monroes were able to join us. We ate lots of wonderful food and had a great time.

Reed brought our Wii down, which provided for many hours of entertainment.

Last year we took this bench picture while taking family pictures.

We decided to make it a tradition and take a photo at this bench every year during the Holiday season.

Next year Anna will be able to join us on the bench, and who knows, maybe in a couple of years we'll be able to add more little ones, as well.

Our visits in Cookeville are always too short, but filled with lots of fun and memories!

6 weeks left!

2009-11-23T11:43:00.003-05:00

We have finally made it to 34 weeks! I am sure that time will fly by as we get through the Holidays. We have a pretty busy schedule this next month, which I am pretty grateful for. We leave for Tennessee tomorrow afternoon to visit with Reed's side of the family. I am excited to have us all together and spend some time together, just relaxing!
Last week was pretty crazy for us, but God is good and has continued to take care of us, even in our frustrations and pain. It was so great to get to see Anna last week. We even got to see her "practicing" her breathing for when she hits the real world. Although, I am glad she is taking more time to develop and grow, I am really anxious to get her here! I am ready to hold her in my arms and not just in my tummy! And I know Reed is really ready to hold her!
I feel so blessed to have Reed as my husband. He takes such good care of me. I have needed him to do more of the little things for me lately, and he is always so gracious about doing them. Reed cleaned all of our carpets this week, all by himself, and even went grocery shopping (which he hates) by himself! He's been making meals and cleaning up the house and running tedious errands for me all week. I feel truly blessed!
Here are some pictures from Sunday. I know I look pretty tired. Sleeping has been very difficult lately. I wake up about every hour and find it hard to get back to sleep. Luckily I am able to take a nap in the afternoon of most days to make up for it. These pictures, were of course, before my nap.

9 weeks to go!

2009-11-01T18:14:00.006-05:00

This last week, Reed and I were able to get a few more things ready for Anna's room. Things are beginning to come together. We only have 9 more weeks till her due date. We are getting pretty excited and can't wait for her arrival.

Butterfies. . . aren't they cute?

The paint on the closet doors was finally dry enough, so we were able to hang them.

We plan to buy little baskets to put in some of the cubby spaces.

Yesterday, we were able to pick up her stroller and car seat. We tried to stay neutral on most of our baby things, trying to plan for more kids, but I really wanted her to have pink on her stroller and car seat. I really like them and can't wait to put her in them!

As you can see, I just keep getting bigger and bigger! I am feeling pretty good, though. I am just really tired, all of the time! Luckily, it won't be long till she's here and it will all be worth it!

me at 30 weeks, 6 days.

me at 30 weeks, 6 days.

Reed looking good!

Trunk or Treat 2009!

2009-10-27T12:25:00.009-04:00

Sunday was our annual Trunk or Treat event at the church. This year we had over 250 people and more decorated trunks than we have ever had. We had beautiful weather and had a lot of fun! This year I dressed up as an oven with a "bun" in it and Reed dressed up like a baker. The costumes were quite the hit. Reed did a great job decorating my oven costume. We had many people with excellent costumes and decorated cars. Here are a few photos from the event.

Our Costumes.

Stacey, Reed and Kim (the Trunk judges)

Before the event actually got going.

Reed giving a devotional to the kids.

Some of the trunks. . .

Trunk winners

Kaireia all dressed up

Alisha and Avery from our small group

When the kids were out Trunk or Treating

Of course there were many more cars decorated. We had a chili contest too, which provided a yummy meal, perfect for fall. And lots of games for the kids! In all, it was a great event. I love that it is something where even the older people from our church can participate and come out with their decorated cars and chili recipes. I can't wait till next year when I get to have Anna all dressed up!

29 Weeks!

2009-10-18T19:35:00.003-04:00

Well, we are at 29 weeks. Reed and I are both ready for Anna to be born! We have known about her coming into our lives for over seven months now and are just ready! As I have come into my last trimester, I have found myself more and more exhausted. Getting up the stairs can even be challenging, at times and takes my breath away! But I am hanging in there. Everyday I thank God for blessing us with a healthy pregnancy. I know His timing is perfect and when she arrives, it will be perfect too!

Reed looking as good, as ever!

This is just a reminder of what I used to look like. Man, has my body changed!

Little by Little

2009-10-12T11:07:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Reed and I went and picked up our crib and changing table for Anna's room. We were able to get enough money from our baby shower, in Oregon, to cover the cost of these items. Which, of course, we are VERY grateful for! Reed did a great job putting them together! Of course, I just watched and told him what to do.

Rocking Chair

2009-10-07T12:48:00.003-04:00

This is my latest fabulous find on craig's list. It will be perfect for Reed to rock little Anna Banana back to sleep in during those 3 a.m. cry fests. Of course, I'll probably use it too!

Anna's Room

2009-10-01T11:31:00.011-04:00

While I was in Washington and Oregon, Reed kept busy by painting the walls, doors and trim in Anna's room. He did a great job. He had the room all set up when I got home on Tuesday. He even set up a pack n' play and swing that our friends gave us. I have found myself going into her room just to look at it over and over again and thinking about when she gets here. I am so excited and counting down the days! Here are some pictures of his work on her room.

The colors of the room beforehand.

Priming the walls. Reed had to do many coats to cover the pink and blue!

He had to do the closet too! It was also pink and blue.

The green walls. This color matches Anna's bedding.

The espresso colored wall. This wall is my favorite!

Almost finished! Reed also painted the closet doors and entry door, but we are waiting to hang them. They need a little extra drying time.

We hope to get our crib and changing table in a few weeks after our trip to Tennessee. I'll post pictures when we get them. Thanks, Babe, for all of your hard work!

The Work Has Begun!

2009-09-16T11:01:00.003-04:00

This last weekend, Reed started working on Anna's room. We bought the paint and Reed started taking off all of the trim work. He plans to redo all of the trim and paint it white. He also hopes to have the room all painted by the time I get back from my trip to the Northwest. He has a long way to go, but there's no doubt in my mind he'll get it done.

Day Trip To Lake Erie

2009-09-06T22:21:00.006-04:00

On Friday, Reed and I journeyed up north to Lake Erie. It was the first time we had been up there, even though we've been in Ohio for over a year. Friday was such a good day because we missed the Labor Day crowd. There wasn't one cloud in the sky up by the lake and the weather was perfect. Very warm and not windy! Lake Erie reminded me a lot of the Puget Sound, in that it was so massive and beautiful! There is something about the water that just makes me stand in awe and I can't help but think of our creator when I look at it! We have such an incredible God!
While we were there we visited a couple light houses and a couple of the small towns along the water.The day was filled with lots of driving (and getting lost), but we had so much fun just hanging out together. We also discovered a new fave pizza joint! Cameo's Pizza. Yummy!
It was such a great day! We enjoyed every minute of it!

Baby Zone!

2009-09-01T20:49:00.004-04:00

We have definitely been in the baby zone these last few weeks. Ever since we found out that we were having a girl, we have been moving full speed ahead! Reed and I were able to hit the stores and started to pick out things for Anna's room, along with all of the other necessities. While Emily was here, she was a able to help us too and give me some advice about what is needed and what is just a waste of money.
This Saturday is my last day at Macy's, which I am really excited about! It will be so nice to have weekends back with Reed. I have missed them so much! We only have a few short months left with just the two of us, before Anna is here. I will probably continue to substitute teach for as long as I can, in the coming weeks. There isn't a huge need yet for subs, since school just started last week, but I am guessing things will start to pick up by the end of the month.
Another project completed is our guest bedroom. My parents generously gave us some money to purchase a bed for the room, and the bed was delivered today! Now we'll have a place for people to sleep as they come to visit baby Anna.
I think we finally have the colors for Anna's room picked out, so we (and when I say that, I mean Reed) can start to paint. Little by little, we'll get it all done.
My first MOPS meeting was tonight at church. It is so nice to be able to connect with people who are talking the same language as us. I was amazed at how many women were there that I don't even know yet. I am excited to make some new connections and friends this year!
Anna seems to be doing great and getting bigger and stronger! Reed has finally been able to feel her kicking! I am starting to notice some routine in her awake times and feel her more and more. It is always reassuring to feel her move!
As I get bigger, I have had many more people ask me when I am due, and ask questions about little Anna. I love bragging about her already and about her wonderful daddy, that has been such a blessing and support to me! Watching Reed get excited about Anna has probably been the best part of this whole process. He's going to be a great dad!
21 wks, 6 days!

It's a girl!

2009-08-21T13:25:00.003-04:00

Well, I know you have probably gotten a phone call from us, or seen us talking about it on Facebook, but Audrey and I are having a girl! We went to the doctor yesterday with my mom and Emily and all gathered around. The ultrasound lady took some photos for the doctor (and she said she thought everything looked perfect) and then - with some prodding - told us we were having a girl!! All four of us there had gotten fairly strong signals it was a boy, so we were really surprised, but very happy! She is very healthy, and VERY active!!

We decided to name her Anna Elizabeth Adams. For all of oour children we wanted 1) first names that started with "a" 2) first names with a good meaning and 3) good biblical middle names to show them how valuable our Lord is to us. We picked this name several months ago (and a boy one, too, just in case) in about 20 minutes. Anna, of course, starts with an "a" so that fits. It has a good meaning on its own, but Audrey has a friend who has really meant a lot to her and she wanted a daughter with that name. So, Anna gets the special meaning in her name from a special person. Lastly, Elizabeth is a good Bible name that went well with Anna. So, that is how we named her. I think it is very good to have at least one or two qualifications when naming your children. It helps narrow down names and helps you think about what's important to you.

Anyway, enough jibber-jabber. On with the pics!!

Here's a HUGE smile!!

Spine shot!

Bottom of a foot!

Well, that's all for today! See ya!

Almost Halfway there!

2009-08-08T19:15:00.003-04:00

Wow, it has been almost a month since our last blog. The month of July flew by rather quickly. We have been busy, busy, busy! We have one more week to get through (VBS week) and then we feel like we can take a breather!
My pregnancy has been going well. I have started to feel little baby Adams pretty consistently everyday! We had a doctor's appointment on Thursday and were able to here the baby's little heartbeat again. It is always reassuring to hear that sound and know that everything is okay. The baby was kicking quite a bit when we were listening.
In just 12 days we will have another ultrasound and be able to find out the baby's gender. We are very excited! And then... let the planning begin! Reed will definitely have his work cut out for him over these next couple of months at home. I have MANY ideas!
VBS starts tomorrow evening, which Reed has been working pretty hard for over the last few months. I am sure it will be a great week! It feels like there is still so much to do before it starts, but I am sure everything will fall into place and run smoothly. It always does. We are just going to basically be living at the church this next week.
After that, Emily and Claire and my mother-in-law come in to town! I am very excited for that! Hopefully we will have a really relaxing week, plus, that's the week of our ultrasound!
Reed get's to take a few days off of work to be with us too, which I am looking forward to.
Here are a few pictures that we took recently.
18 weeks, 5 days! (I know, I look tired!)

Reed looking as handsome, as ever! 18 weeks, 5 days!

17 weeks, 5 days. We thought we needed some family shots!

Almost 15 weeks!

2009-07-11T20:38:00.002-04:00

We had a doctor's visit on Thursday that went well. Baby Adam's heart is beating strong and healthy!
14 weeks, 5 days
14 weeks, 5 days

Almost 14 weeks!

2009-07-04T17:15:00.003-04:00

Here are some pictures from the last two weeks! I am starting to get huge! But my grandma says I have no idea what "huge" is like yet.

13 weeks, 5 days!
13 weeks, 5 days!

Reed, of course, is looking as handsome as ever!

4th of July

2009-07-04T16:26:00.010-04:00

Audrey's grandparents are in town for the 4th, so we went down the road where there was a pretty nice parade going on. There were no huge floats (it was for our smaller area and not all of Columbus) but it was still tons of fun. There were enough things in it to take almost an hour and a half. We took a good deal of pictures for you to check out!

Here's just before the start of the parade:

A few fun floats:

The rocket on this one stood up and shot smoke and confetti...but they didn't do it close to us:(

There were some fun characters:

This is the mascot for our hockey team - the Blue Jackets (though he isn't blue...hmmm)

Tie-Dye Bat Girl was SCARY!

This is, by far, the happiest this guy looked the entire time we saw him (and yes, he was in the parade)

This guy rolled like this a long, long ways (it was quite neat)

This "character" excited Audrey more than any others...

Audrey and Ilene got Otter Pops:

When I saw these firefighters on the back of their truck, I suddenly got nervous my family's safety. No more playing with matches and lighter fluid for us!

One last look at my super-hot wife;)

Hope you had a great 4th as well!!!!

New Stuff

2009-06-27T00:36:00.027-04:00

Hey, we're doing well here. It has been pretty hot outside, but rainy enough to keep the grass growing like lightning. So, this weekend has been project time. Yesterday I mowed the front yard, Audrey did some other outdoor work (with frequent indoor breaks to keep the baby from overheating), and together we washed and waxed her car. We washed mine yesterday, too, but we didn't have time to wax it so I took care of that today while she was at work. I feel like such an adult now...which is a good thing. I have a tremendously blessed life, no doubt.
So, onto the good stuff. My parents just sold their house in San Antonio (after over a year...praise God it's sold!) and to celebrate, they decided to be generous (like usual) and gave us a little of the money (claimed they borrowed money from me when I was 3 and needed to pay it back with a little interest...whatever). We decided to use that money on a couple things we have been wanting for a while. One was a video camera, which is going to be especially great when the baby is here. You know, to capture the first tear, first smile, first cough, first sigh, first poop, first word, first yawn, first giggle, first step, first birthday, first...well, you get the picture. Everything in this child's life will be on film...maybe we'll just name it Truman and make a show based on the movie about a show. Anyway, we used the camera to show what our other purchase was, so watch and check it out. (Since this is our first camera, this is my first posting of video online. Sorry if it doesn't work. And, yes I know the editing job is terrible...I had to make it smaller to be able to post it, and I'm still figuring out the software). Check out the post below for part II.

New Stuff Part II

2009-06-27T00:04:00.006-04:00

It is finished!

Feeling Pregnant!

2009-06-13T17:27:00.004-04:00

Reed and I have had a pretty busy week. I am very glad that it is over! I worked more hours than usual at Macy's to get ready for a big "visit" we had from some important people, which included some pretty early hours. And on top of that, I have been pretty queasy most mornings and evenings this week. I am looking forward to next week, when I will have some more time at home! Plus, the in-laws are coming to visit!
Here are a couple of pictures from today. I don't look much different from last week, but totally feel more pregnant!
10 weeks, 5 days!- My sickest day yet!
10 weeks, 5 days!

PS- I just have to say that I have such an AMAZING husband! He is so good to me! I have had a pretty rough day with morning sickness and he has been by my side all day. When I went to go lay down, he laid down next to me to be a comfort. When I needed him to rush to the store to get some saltines and ginger ale, he gladly did so and was back in like five minutes! When I was hugging the toilet, he held my hair back and got me a cool wash cloth and cleaned up my mess! I know, kinda disgusting, but I just had to say what a GREAT man I have. He is so giving! He's going to make a great daddy! He takes care of me, even at my most ugliest moments!

10 Weeks!

2009-06-08T16:32:00.007-04:00

I can't begin to tell you how happy we are to being having this little one! The love I already have for this child inside of me amazes me. God has been so faithful to us in this journey. Although I could talk all day about the inside transformation that has been taking place in both of our lives since we found out "the news", I thought I would share a bit of the outside transformation that is taking place. I was just beginning to feel in pretty good shape when we found out I was pregnant. Since then, my body has slowly started to change form, thanks to the lack of rest, too much food and not enough exercise, I have experienced. Of course little baby Adams is growing strong and is very healthy! My doctor didn't seem to be too worried about the extra 5-7 lbs I have gained. In fact, she told me that I have the "heart of a runner!" And of course that is now my excuse for not needing to get on the treadmill.
In all reality, I can definitely tell the difference in my body and can't wait till I am actually really "showing". Then the whole world will know my joy without me even saying a word!
Here are a few of the pictures we have taken over the last few weeks. I have included some pictures of Reed too! We don't want him to feel left out, although, my hope is that his body won't change too much of the course of this pregnancy! My goal is to get pictures every week so we can see the slow transformation. We'll see how that goes!
4 weeks, 5 days- the day we found out!
5 weeks, 5 days!
7 weeks, 2 days- Day of our first ultrasound and day we got to see little baby Adams for the first time!
8 weeks, 5 days!
9 weeks, 6 days!- Day after we heard baby Adams' heart beat by Doppler for the first time!
4 weeks, 5 days!
5 weeks, 5 days!
7 weeks, 2 days
8 weeks, 5 days!
9 weeks, 6 days!

So...Nothing much happening with us

2009-06-04T17:28:00.003-04:00

Well, I have a feeling that since we told both of our parents about it, you probably know that we are going to have a baby! Audrey is 9 weeks pregnant, and is due Jan. 4th. We went in today and got an ultrasound and met with our doctor for the first time. She is a very nice lady. Aud has been feeling a little queasy on and off, but truly not too bad. She is exhausted all the time, but is doing well. We also heard the heartbeat today, which is a good sign. We aren't going to talk names right now until we know if it's a boy or girl (which we will find out) so don't even ask. I am calling the kid Timmy at present just because it's a great generic name (sorry all the Tims out there...my apologies). There really isn't much to report right now, so please keep us and Baby Adams in your prayers. Thanks!

We aren't sure if the thing sticking off him is a foot or his tail, but he definitely looks like me, doesn't he? I mean, the round, bald head is a chip off the old block. And that floating thing, I'm pretty sure, is a donut (Krispy Kreme I'm sure...nothing but the best for my kid).

Beautiful Flower

2009-05-14T16:28:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we looked out our back door and saw a beautiful sight! The weather has been raining for what seems like a million years and because of that and our busy schedules I hadn't had time to mow in about two weeks. When we happened to glance outside we saw a miracle of nature that was fighting for life. Though the cracks in our back patio are small, this heavenly gift had managed to survive in those conditions. Wow...what an amazingly gorgeous sight!

...or, a stupid weed that had sprouted to over three feet in only two weeks because it never stops raining in this dumb state.

The New Couch!

2009-05-06T14:11:00.004-04:00

So here are some pictures of our new couch. We love it! It is SOOOO comfy!

We plan to show some of the other updates we have done recently in days to come. Maybe we'll make a video or something.

Our new couch is coming. . . finally!

2009-05-03T16:09:00.003-04:00

This Wednesday we will finally have our new couch delivered. It has been about 6 1/2 weeks since we ordered it. I can't wait to finally have a place to stretch out on to take my wonderful Sunday afternoon naps! This is what it should look like. Our living room is looking more and more the way we want it!

Happy Birthday Bonnie!

2009-04-08T10:05:00.002-04:00

Today is Bonnie's birthday! Bonnie, I love you very much and am very excited to see you next month! You are growing up to be a very beautiful young woman!

New Stuff

2009-03-27T21:37:00.009-04:00

Hello everyone! I snuck on here while Audrey was out of the room so I could be the one to tell you all about how God has been blessing us lately. Three weeks ago we were looking over our finances and decided that we were at a place with our savings that we had been waiting for. We were ready to start saving for a couple new pieces of furniture! We had been wanting a new bed frame that wasn't a cheap metal one with a broken wheel, and we'd been wanting a couch that was a) long enough to lay down on and hold more than two people when we have company and b) was a little newer than a hand-me-down from a hand-me-down (although we have actually loved having it).
Well, three weeks ago we started doing our taxes and after a little difficulty (don't ask) we found out that we were getting back some more money than we had been expecting! So much, actually, that we were able to go out LAST weekend and buy both pieces of furniture. So, today our new bed frame was delivered, and our new couch should be here in about 5-6 weeks (it was special order)! We are quite excited about having them. They are definitely things that we have been fine without and could stay that same way for a while, but it is really neat to have them. I attached a couple pictures below for you to see. One of the room in waiting, and then a few other misc. photos. Check them out!

Well, there you go! We'll make sure to put up some couch pictures when we get them, too. Oh yeah, we are in the process of getting an alarm system right now, too. The hardwiring and devices are all installed; we just need a little more work on the connection to the company.

Hope you all are doing great! Over and out!

Hanging out with Claire!

2009-03-10T17:38:00.005-04:00

Last week I was in Arizona visiting family and friends. Each day I got to hang out with little Claire! She is getting SO big!

This is at the park after dropping Grandma off at the airport. We were sad and needed something to take our minds off things.

We spent several days visiting with old friends, so Claire got to get all dressed up for each outing.

She wasn't sure about the whole ponytail thing. I loved them!

We spent lots of time on the slide together!

Claire likes things clean, just like her auntie. She used a towel to go down the slide. . .

. . . to wash the slide. . .

. . . and to clean off her shoes after walking in the gravel! She makes Auntie Audrey and Uncle Reed very proud! Her parents, on the other hand, are not to happy that I have taught her such great tricks!

I had such a great trip! It was so good to see friends from Central, along with my Mom and Em and Travis! I miss them all very much!

Chocolate Weekend!

2009-02-22T16:36:00.029-05:00

After work on Thursday, Reed and I hopped in the car and drove about 7 hours over to Hershey, PA! We were ready for some much needed rest and relaxation! And what not a better place to do this at, than the chocolate capital of the US! And on top it all off, February is chocolate month in Hershey! We were very excited for our trip!
We stayed at a Best Western Inn right in Hershey, so we were very close to all the excitement. We didn't arrive till a little after 10 pm on Thursday, so needless to say, we waited till Friday for all of the fun.

Friday morning started off great with chocolate waffles for breakfast along with some yummy hot chocolate! It was a great way to start our day! We then ventured off to Chocolate World!
Right away, we asked a lady at guest services, what the three best things to do in Chocolate World were. We wanted to hear some expert advice, so we didn't waste any time in our short stay. She told us that the three best things to do were the Factory Tour, Trolley Ride and Chocolate Taste Testing 101.

So, that's exactly what we did! It was such a great day! Reed and I had such a great time!
We first went on the Factory Tour where we learned how the chocolate was made and packaged up, depending on the type of candy. We got onto this ride that had an audio tour of the whole experience.

We then headed over for the hour long Trolley Ride! This was by far my favorite part! They took us on a tour of Hershey and explained many important facts about Milton Hershey's life and about his wife, Catherine. They were such amazing people! Reed and I couldn't believe all of the things they did in their life time and how generous they were.
This is the home Milton Hershey grew up in, well, at least part of it. He bought it back after being away from it for years and added on to it.
Hershey theater.
Mansion that Milton and Catherine Hershey lived in.

Because they couldn't have children, they started a trade school for under privileged boys. They wanted the boys to learn a trade and also have a strong spiritual upbringing. They built homes for the boys to live in and hired couples to be house parents. Hershey covered all of their bills including health needs, food, clothing, schooling, even fun activities they did. He paid for everything. Families didn't have to pay a cent!

Part of the HUGE school. This third picture is of part of the Founder's Building. It is so big that my camera couldn't begin to get it all in one picture. It is the second biggest unsupported dome building in the world. It was made of all marble and limestone and was probably one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in! These pictures do not give it justice!

This statue for Hershey says, "His deeds are his memorial, His life is our inspiration". They have several like this one around town, with the same inscription.When he died (his wife also passed away to cancer, years earlier), Hershey left 100% to the trust fund of the school. Today there are 1,800 students, about half boys and half girls. The school still covers everything for these kids. When they graduate, they receive up to $76,000 to go to any school they would like in the world, along with a new wardrobe, luggage to carry their new wardrobe and a $100 bill (the $100 bill was a tradition that Hershey started). He really was a generous man! Each of the homes for the kids has over 13 bedrooms, and houses between 8 and 13 kids, along with the house parents. Some of the homes have full basketball courts and playgrounds in them. Each home costs over 1.2 million to build. One really cool thing is that each home has chocolate milk and two kinds of regular milk ON TAP!
He did many other things, like build incredible homes for his employees and sold the homes to them for $1. He really took care of people in the town! It is easy to see how his name is so treasured!
Every time you buy a Hershey's product, you help these underprivileged kids! Another reason to eat more chocolate, right?!
We learned many cool facts about Hershey along the trolley ride. Like that Hershey first made his millions in caramels! And this was after he failed and went bankrupt many times! He bought out Reese's from his friend Reese, but before he bought the company, He gave Reese all the free sugar he needed for his candy! Also, Reese's is the number one selling Hershey product, by far! It doesn't even come close to the second and third picks- kisses and chocolate bars!
Another fun fact is that Hershey patented the Hugs candy in 1907, because he knew that he would eventually want a candy to go with kisses. He died in 1948 and the Hug didn't even come out until 1990! How crazy is that!
Part of the Factory, itself. These bushes were planted in the early 1900's.

The town of Hershey is really called Derry Township. It has just been referred to Hershey because of the train station and post office that are named Hershey. It is such a beautiful town! There are many flower gardens around town because Hershey's wife Catherine loved flowers so much! There is also a tree garden where every year, they plant a tree to remember alumni from the Hershey school that have passed away. It is a very beautiful park!
I could talk about so many other things that we learned from this trip! It was so encouraging and really fun!
When we finished the trolley ride, we headed over to the taste testing! This was Reed's favorite part of the trip!
We learned how to taste different types of chocolate and figure out about how much Cacao is in each chocolate.
We also learned about the Cacao trees and their beans. It was very interesting! Did you know that the Cacao tree has very shallow roots, so it picks up flavors from all of it's surroundings? Hershey uses an average of 28 different types of beans from different places in the world to blend flavors. They also have a few special blends that they make where they choose specific beans they want, to bring out a specific flavor. This was very evident when we tried Hershey's dark chocolate Bliss. It is a dark chocolate, but because they chose beans from trees that were around citrus and flowers, it doesn't have the bitter after-taste that many dark chocolates have. It was very yummy! They also stir this chocolate for 76 hours, so it is very creamy, even though it doesn't have lots of milk and sugar in it.
After going to Chocolate World, Reed and I drove around the town a bit and came across an outlet mall. We had fun shopping before dinner, buying ourselves a few things along the way(we bought things for spring- wishing the snow would go away!).
For dinner, we went to the Hershey Lodge and ate at one of their nice restaurants called the Hershey Grill! It was a lot of fun! The food was a bit pricey for how good it was, but it was still a fun experience. Our waitress's name was Ann and she had hair like little orphan Annie, although she was old enough to be our mom.

The next day we were able to sleep in, which is always so nice to do during vacation. We spent some more time wandering around Hershey before heading back to reality! If you haven't been, we would really recommend this trip! They also have two amusement parks (one with big rides and one with little kid things), museums and many other things to do, that we simply didn't have time for. It was such a great trip and oh so yummy!

Mom's Fun Money

2009-02-09T14:44:00.004-05:00

A few months ago, Rachel told me about this wonderful website called "momsfunmoney.com". This website is full of survey companies that offer free incentives and points for taking a few surveys. You definitely do not earn enough points or money to quit your regular job, but it does offer a little extra cash and fun rewards. Most of the ones I do earn money to use on amazon.com or paypal.
This site also has a "Freebies" page. Each day, new items are listed. You can pick and choose what you like. There is even an archives section to choose items posted in the past. Some are still offering freebies. It is fun! Almost everyday, I go to my mailbox and get something new and fun in the mail! They are not usually big things, but hey, who doesn't like to get free stuff!
Some of the free stuff I have gotten are:

Diapers and Dora potty training kit(to send to my nieces and nephews, of course)
Kids Essentials drinks from Boost
After school kit on safety and being home alone
TiVo Cookie cutters
Dove Shampoo
Glad Stretch garbage bag
Betty Crocker's Warm Delights Mini
Fruit Snacks
Granola bars
Quaker Oats snacks
Key chains
Movies- mostly educational
Kids growth charts
Perfume Samples
Magazine prescriptions
Silicone Muffin pan
Posters
Pens
Water bottles
Crest Teeth Whitening sample and coupon
Stencils
Laundry detergent
Del Monte canned tomatoes
Marie Calendar frozen meals
More items I can't remember
And lots of coupons!

She also lists places where things are free each day and deals of the day at different stores.

It's a great site! You should check it out!

Happy Birthday Katie!

2009-01-31T10:49:00.002-05:00

Today is Katie's birthday! I love my sister very much and I am so happy to have her as part of our family. It just wouldn't be the same without her. Katie, I am proud of the young woman you are becoming, and only wish that I could be there with you to celebrate your special day. Love yah!

Wonderful Surprise!

2009-01-28T18:20:00.004-05:00

The last few weeks have been pretty difficult ones for subbing. The students have just been so talkative and have had a hard time focusing and being respectful to each other and myself.
Almost every night I have come home tired, worn-out and stressed!
Last Friday evening, when I came home from an extra difficult day, Reed surprised me with three new bubble baths from Bath and Body works. He got me Warm Vanilla Sugar, Sleep- Lavender Vanilla and Moonlight Path. He also left me a cute little note on the counter. They were perfect and just what I needed. My hubby is always taking care of me!
Needless to say, I have pretty much taken a wonderful relaxing bubble bath everyday since. It has been a fantastic new addition to my routine! Especially with all of these snowy days too! Thanks, hubby! You are the best! Love yah!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2009-01-24T12:42:00.002-05:00

Today is my Mother's birthday! My Mom has always been such a great example for me and truly a great mother! She has taught me so much and has blessed my life in more ways than I could ever say. Thank you Mom! I love you!

PICTURES!

2009-01-14T18:43:00.011-05:00

Amazingly, my wife let me blog on here AGAIN!! Yes, quite a shock. Anyway, I have some pictures (some promised, and others just bonus). Check them out! (I will explain them).

Here we go:

This picture is me scraping snow off our driveway. We had snow all day today (and it's still coming down). I did this a couple hours ago, and now you can barely tell.

These are a couple other pictures of our snowy yard and house. It has even gotten deeper in the last couple hours.

The next four photos are of my hats that I told you all about. If you want, you can comment and tell me which is your favorite.

The Fedora (a classic, but with the smaller-brimmed modern look).

The baseball cap. Probably destined to be the most-worn of all my hats. First fitted ball cap I've ever had.

Beanie #1

Beanie #2 I got two because they were on sale.

The picture below is actually I one I have been wanting to post for a while, but since I haven't blogged much I haven't. It is of a creche that my Grandma Adams gave to me a few years ago. I had been so excited to pull it out because I had never really seen it before this year. I had moved so much and didn't want it to get damaged, so I left it at my parent's packed away. Now that Audrey and I are settled I picked it up at Thanksgiving. I knew it was going to be a nice one because my Grandma had given it to me, but until I unwrapped it I didn't realize how nice and how beautiful it was!! It is hard to see in the pictures, but it is quite stunning. Thank you so much, Grandma!!

Well, that's all for now. If you don't hear from us for a while, send us a snow-blower and some hot chocolate!! Bye!

Long time

2009-01-11T19:58:00.002-05:00

Well, it has been almost a month since we blogged on here, and so I decided to get on and chat about what has been happening. Audrey finally gave me the password, so I am able to give my second post ever on our blog;). Anyway, here's what's been happening since our last blog:
We celebrated Christmas with my sister and brother-in-law and their kids on the 22nd and had a great time. We got the kids a couple presents for fun, and they were quite the hit! Kaireia enjoyed putting wall stickers up (guaranteed not to wreck the paint), Kardia loved strutting around in her plastic high heels, and the best gift was Neidon's Spiderman punching bag! Audrey inflated it before she wrapped it, so he was able to attack it right out of the wrapping. He pretty much wrestled that thing all evening! The fact that they loved the presents made our day, definitely.
On Christmas Eve, Audrey and I flew to Oregon to spend some time with my in-laws. The weather had been terrible in the Northwest, so we weren't sure we would make it. We got there just fine, though. When we went to get our luggage in the Portland airport, the luggage claim area was covered in suitcases from people who had been delayed and stuck elsewhere while their bags came on. We felt very blessed we had made it ok, and sorry for everyone who hadn't.
We had a really great Christmas with the family, and loved our 9 days visiting everyone. We got to really soak in the time with family that we don't get to see nearly enough. Audrey's parents really took care of us and loved on us while we were up there. They even got us a Garmin GPS for Christmas! We are really going to like having that, and maybe it will keep me from getting lost which makes me grouchy:).
It always takes a bit to get back into the swing of things getting back from vacation, but having a job I enjoy definitely made it easier. We were doing pretty well on starting to get into working out again until our treadmill tread broke a few days ago. Because of the cold and snow outside we keep saying we'll run around the inside of the house, but we don't. That laziness was made much easier by the fact that Audrey wasn't feeling good much of the week, so we at least have some excuse.
Anyway, that pretty much catches you up to our life and all of our excitement to this point. I would have put some pictures up but Audrey won't let me touch the camera anymore either:).
Guess that's all...although before I get off for another 5 months I could tell you my new craze. Lately I am into hats. Not collecting them, but getting a few quality ones. I have never been a hat guy at all (at ALL) but I know I am going bald and getting closer all the time. I am guessing it will be bad enough that I'llbe shaving it within 5 years. Well, a bald guy needs to protect his dome because he doesn't have hair to do that. I bought a couple beanies (skull caps, stocking caps, whatever you call them) a couple weeks before Christmas for cold weather. Then about a week after that I found a nice, fitted baseball cap on sale and got that. Lastly, I just bought a fedora (if you don't know what that is, google it) because I needed a dressier hat (it's a nice, trendier one and not an old guy one). So, that's my hat tale. I am done buying hats and will now wear these for years until they rot off my balding scalp:).
Ok, this is really long and I'm done. Maybe if I'm good Audrey will take some pictures of my hats on me and put them up next time she posts. So you can cross your fingers for that.
Later, everyone!!

Christmas Cookie Baking Party!

2008-12-14T16:15:00.007-05:00

On Friday night, a few of my friends got together and made yummy Christmas cookies! We had the party in the church kitchen, where we had extra space and more oven room. It was a lot of fun. In fact, maybe too much fun. There were times when we were talking and forgot to get the cookies out of the oven. And if you know church ovens, you know that they are always extra hot, so you have to watch things!

There were six of us that got together. We had each of the pastor's wives (except for Terry), our church secretary and Mindy. Mindy is the sister of our youth pastor, so we let her tag along.
Sabrina (our youth pastor's wife) and Mindy brought yummy appetizers, tea, coco and hot cider to have while we chatted and started to make our cookies. Rachel and I also brought the Christmas music to put us in the holiday spirit. We had so much fun just catching up and getting to know each other better! We have such a great group of ladies at our church!

By the end of the night we had:

-Chocolate peanut butter fudge
-Peanut butter cookies
-Peppermint bark
-Mexican wedding cake cookies
-Maple cookies
-Chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips
-Chocolate and peanut butter layer bars
-Butterscotch and white chocolate layer bars

We divided everything up and each got to take lots of goodies home! Reed and I have enjoyed eating some of each kind, but still have many left over! But that's okay. Luckily cookies work for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Lots of sugar, but oh so much yumminess!

Emily (music pastor's wife)

Linda (Church secretary)

Mindy

Rachel (senior pastor's wife and sister-in-law)

Sabrina (youth pastor's wife)

December 8th!

2008-12-09T17:53:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, Reed took me out to celebrate the anniversary of his marriage proposal. Two years ago he asked me to marry him! I can still remember how excited I was to step out on this new adventure. Saying Yes, was one of the best things I have ever done! Reed is such a wonderful husband and man of God that continues to amaze me everyday!

Last night Reed took me out to the Columbus Fish Market. This restaurant has the best seafood in town! The fish was so fresh and tasted SO good. I had a blackened Mahi Mahi, Shanghi style on a bed of sticky rice and spinach and Reed had the Shanghi Tilapia. It was probably the best Mahi Mahi I have ever had!

Afterward we headed to Sonic for some cheesecake bites! We LOVE their cheesecake bites! We had cheesecake bites for the first time on the night he proposed, and have had them every year since. Each year they change a little. This year they have a coating of chocolate and a caramel dipping sauce. Yum yum!

It was a great evening!